_________________________________________ Affiliate Marketing Myths Exposed! 4/1/2004 by KowaBunga! Technologies Staff _________________________________________ Note: If this shows in your browser, simply click "File" in your browser and select "Save As" and make sure that file type is text (.txt) Links in this article do not show as active because this is a text file. Why text (.txt) format? Text files are much easier to download, don't require much disk space, and easier to print. ======================================================== THE CENTER FOR INTERNET MARKETING RESEARCH AND EDUCATION http://bizinfo.manila.ph ======================================================== Hi, This is Ave Ramel, the Coach of the Center for Internet Marketing Research and Education, exponent of internet marketing since 1999. This article was evaluated by your Coach and made available for The Center's archive for new subscribers. After mastering this article, proceed to our Internet Marketing Knowledge Base at http://bizinfo.manila.ph/knowledge-base As a favor, please forward this article to all your friends you want to help and who would like to earn income from the Net. Cheers, Ave Ramel, Coach P.S. Start your home business online with this global opportunity - the world's first instant powdered green iced tea P.P.S. You can do your business in 32 countries using the internet. Proceed now to http://freeonlineschool.manila.ph/resensa ================ YOUR NEXT STEPS: ================ Internet Marketing Services: 1. Get Coached - personalized coaching, at your most convenient time and place Proceed now to http://bizinfo.manila.ph/coaching 2. Hire A Retainer-Consultant for your corporation or marketing campaigns Proceed now to http://bizinfo.manila.ph/consultancy 3. Add one profit center to your company minus the overhead costs - your own internet marketing arm. Proceed now to http://bizinfo.manila.ph/outsourcing Available on the Web: 1. Internet Marketing Knowledge Base - the archive contains selected and annotated articles, lessons, and ebooks, including secrets, tips and tricks, categorized into the following general subjects: - Advertising - Affiliate Programs - Beginner and Web Design - Customer Relations Management - E-mail Marketing - Sales Conversion - Search Engine Marketing - Search Engine Optimization - Strategy and Tactics - Web Promotions This includes The Net Marketing Review (newsletter) containing researches, latest updates, and strategies that are analyzed and tested by The Center. Proceed now and download free stuffs like this article at http://bizinfo.manila.ph/knowledge-base 2. Do-It-Yourself for ... Beginners or Newbies Intermediate Students Advanced Students Professionals Proceed now to http://bizinfo.manila.ph/school 3. Proceed to your Coach's Weblog located at http://aredconsult.blogspot.com and discover secrets, tips, and tricks _________________________________________ Affiliate Marketing Myths Exposed! 4/1/2004 by KowaBunga! Technologies Staff _________________________________________ The following is an interview with Jonathan Miller, Team Affiliate team leader and affiliate management guru. Jonathan tackles the myths of Affiliate marketing, as well as exposing the secrets on how to get a return on investment with your Affiliate program. KowaBunga! E-News: So Jonathan, you talk to hundreds of customers every month. What is the biggest misconception most people have about Affiliate marketing? Jonathan: The biggest thing I notice is that most people don't really understand how we do things. They have ideas about how it all works, but they don't really know. Those have become the myths that I try to explain to them every day. KowaBunga! E-News: So what are these myths? Jonathan: The #1 myth in Affiliate Marketing is that Affiliate programs can run by them selves and be successful. As with anything, you can't just turn it on and walk away. Modern day Affiliates require serious communication and assistance. They don't stand for anything else. KowaBunga! E-News: Specifically, how? Jonathan: Well, when we are working on building a program for a customer, we spend countless hours searching out new partners and communicating with current ones. We also work very hard to produce the best marketing materials that our partners need and want. Sometimes we make custom materials on request. You have to give them what they want. KowaBunga! E-News: Moving on, what's another myth? Jonathan: Another big one is that customers believe that you need to have thousands upon thousands of Affiliates for your program to be successful. That is wrong. We'd rather have 10 super producers than 1000 non-producers. KowaBunga! E-News: OK, how do you find them then? The good ones that is. Jonathan: We use several methods to locate good Affiliates. One of those methods being online searching. I won't go into exactly how we find them, I can't give you all my trade secrets can I? J Rest assured, once we do find what we think is a good partner, we aggressively contact that person to get them on our team. At that point, it's all about the offer, and how we can help them make money. The proof is in the pudding, and that's what we have to do; show them the proof. KowaBunga! E-News: Anything else? Jonathan: Those are the biggest myths I deal with, probably. The other one is that Affiliate programs are easy money. Heh, if it was that easy, everyone would be successful. The truth is, it takes a lot of work to do what we do, which is manage successful Affiliate programs that produce a return on investment. Here are some of the Truths of Affiliate Marketing, off the top of my head. Sorry if I'm repeating myself from earlier. This is from memory: • An affiliate program is a REAL sales channel and requires dedicated knowledgeable management. • You have to differentiate your offer from your competitors and have a unique selling proposition. • It's better to recruit 100 revenue producing affiliate partners than thousands of affiliates. • You need to manage your "Affiliate Sales team" on a daily basis, respond to them and treat them as a valuable integral part of your company. Your program can be VERY lucrative, with the right foundation and continued management. KowaBunga! E-News: So you brought it up. How do you show ROI for clients? Jonathan: Everyone wants to know how to get ROI. I understand why. I mean, if you are going to spend money on something that is based upon showing results down the line instead of immediately, you should probably have an answer for how you're going to get that return on investment, right? I've already outlined our ROI formula on our website, but I'll just give you the highlights here. To calculate your ROI expense, you need to answer these questions ahead of time: What is my gross profit on each item sold? (Sales price - Cost of goods sold) What is my acceptable marketing cost? (Percentage of gross profit allocated to marketing) Assuming you factor in the cost of the Affiliate program and staffing and your Affiliate commission percentage you need to determine how many items need to be sold to reach break even. To determine break even use the following formula: Affiliate Management Fee Sales Units required to Break Even (Gross Profit per unit - Affiliate Commissions) KowaBunga! E-News: Any closing comments? Jonathan: If you're a merchant and you are thinking about outsourcing your program, I suggest you contact us and let us spend 15 minutes with you on the phone, free. Let us explain to you how it all works and see if your program is a good fit for our services. Most often, after speaking with us, customers begin to realize how we can really make a difference and boost their program to where it needs to be. ============================== Let Me Help You Get Customers: ============================== AREDCONSULT SERVICES AND SOLUTIONS I. EXECUTIVE COACHING - for busy entrepreneurs, decision-makers and marketing executives who can't spare much time away from their office operations but must immediately grasp and harness internet marketing to contribute to the company's profitability. I will come to you instead. I offer you customized lessons, varied delivery, and at your own time, place and pacing. II. WEBSITE CRITIQUE - for those who already have a website but the results didn't satisfy your expectations, especially your bottomline - profit. I offer you immediate and in-depth assessment. III. 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Business processes that can be outsourced include submission of your website to search engines, email campaigns, mailing list management, product upsell and cross-sell, website content build-up, weblog content, link exchange with other websites, customer relations management, etc. http://bizinfo.manila.ph/coaching http://bizinfo.manila.ph/consultancy http://bizinfo.manila.ph/outsourcing ======== CONTACT: ======== Ask Aredconsult online for any internet marketing questions: http://www.aredconsult.com/ask-aredconsult.htm E-mail: mastermind@ask-the-expert.com Production Office: Tel. # 728-9613 or leave voice mail Corporate Address: Rm. 404 Parchouse II EDSA, Guadalupe Nuevo, beside Sogo Hotel 1200 Makati City, The Philippines ***Trust in the Lord with all your heart***